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Five Issues Facing MLS This Season

By: Adam Jardy

The Columbus Dispatch - March 07, 2014 02:42 PM

Five issues facing Major League Soccer this season

1. HomecomingCommissioner Don Garber has been adamant about his goal of making Major League Soccer among
the world’s best by 2022, and by all accounts it has made a significant gesture in the past year
with high-profile signings. Bringing Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and Maurice Edu (not to mention
Michael Parkhurst) back and adding a player like Jermain Defoe has sent signals that MLS is serious
about attracting the best talent regardless of place of origin. Now, can that trend continue — even
as the league and players’ union deal with a salary cap that will surely be a key issue in
collective-bargaining negotiations?

2. ExpansionWhen Garber held a question-and-answer session this week, the first 10 minutes were devoted
exclusively to addressing expansion rumors in more than a half-dozen locations. New York City FC
and Orlando City are scheduled to join the league in 2015, but competition for the other available
expansion slots has generated considerable interest. The league is looking to expand into the
Midwest and Texas, Garber said, with Minneapolis and either San Antonio or Austin looking like
chief competitors. But assuming the league gets to its stated goal of 24 teams by 2020, will the
talent level grow at the same rate?

3. ChampsSporting Kansas City ended the Los Angeles Galaxy’s reign as two-time defending MLS Cup
champions by defeating Real Salt Lake on penalty kicks, and both teams made few offseason changes
to rosters that are among the most cohesive in the league. Peter Vermes has been building a
consistent contender for the past few seasons, and Kansas City looks ready for an extended period
as one of the league’s elite teams. Can Salt Lake earn revenge, or will the New York Red Bulls
finally make a postseason breakthrough? What will Portland or Los Angeles produce? The road to
repeat will face plenty of challenges for Kansas City.

4. The Chivas issueAfter years of mismanagement, MLS purchased the other team in Los Angeles with plans to
resell it to an ownership committed to keeping the team in town while also undergoing a rebranding
and finding a facility. Trying to adapt the Chivas brand to Los Angeles never quite caught on, but
the team’s dour on-field results had their share of the blame. Garber has said the club will remain
in town, but all the demand for expansion franchises begs one question: Why?

5. TransparencyThe league’s longstanding policy of not disclosing the financial terms of deals or contracts
is becoming less tenable as roster rules become more complex. It’s easy for fans to accuse the
league of favoritism when rules are seemingly created to assist high-profile clubs in bringing in
special players, and the lack of details on allocation money that is exchanged in nearly every deal
makes it impossible to accurately judge deals. Allowing more transparency into the equation would
go a long way toward quelling unease among the league’s growing fan base, who can be forgiven for
occasionally smelling conspiracy.